Thursday, January 31, 2019

What do
consumers think is a Grocerant? Well
according to Steven Johnson, the Grocerant
Guru® at Tacoma,
WA based Foodservice Solutions®, the man to coined the term
Grocerant he says that: "a Grocerant any retail food item that is fresh
prepared Ready-2-Eat or ready to Heat-N-Eat. Traditionally these items can
be found in grocery stores in the service deli, C-stores in the prepared food
area and prepackaged, ready to eat items and in ​restaurants under
the To-go, on the takeout-menu, via a drive-thru or offered for delivery section of the menu or
on the website."

Increasingly
Grocerant fresh food can be found at retailers the ilk of IKEA,
Ralph
Lauren, Barns & Noble, Macy’s, Nordstrom,
and Costco Wholesale Club Stores. Digital
innovation as created a platform where food trucks, food carts, pop-up
restaurants, and virtual (no-storefront) retailers are garnering consumers
attention and dollars for meals and meal components.

When I
say retailer, it is broadly defining supermarkets, mass drug merchants,
C-Stores (convenience stores), grocery service dli, and fast food or fast
casual restaurants where and the meal or meal components can be made portable
and mix & matched into a unique family meal.

What
Drives the Grocerant Trend a Battle for Share of Stomach.

Its noon
customers are just beginning to think about what's for dinner. In fact, 81.7% of
American consumers are unsure about what's for dinner at noon and 64.1% don’t
know what’s for dinner at 4PM according to Foodservice Solutions® most recent Grocerant
ScoreCards.

Time-starved
Consumers are looking for high quality ready to eat foods and ready to heat
meals. Today's time-starved consumer wants to purchase meal components that
they can bundle into a customized family meal that will please everyone without
spending time cooking.

Retail
supermarkets and convenience store sector have gained momentum with innovating
new fresh prepared food offerings within the grocerant space garnering market
share back from the restaurant sector all the while cannibalizing legacy CPG
sales; creating a bit of a conundrum.

Many
legacy grocery stores have a fresh food “presentation problem’ according to
Johnson.Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and
Heat-N-Eat must look fresh and taste great, and it’s the look fresh most legacy
grocery and c-store chains stumble with.

When you
get a meal at a restaurant, the plate and the food look great… let's call this
"food for now". Retailers are primarily selling "food for
later" or take-out and unless an item is a sandwich, the looks of
ready-2-eat meals and meal components is evolving albeit not quite fast enough
according to our Grocerant Guru®.

Why is it
so hard to package food to go? In the Hot food section of the grocery store,
the food in most cases does not look appealing so our expectations drop when we
get it for Take-Away. In convenience stores, like Wawa, the ready to eat food
looks great in the to-go containers. Why? Because Wawa puts the entire package
together. They exert more control over the look and feel of "food for
later."

Around
the world, we are now seeing sections in department's stores and kiosk in malls
in Europe and Asia and airports around the world. The items can range from
entrees to side items and desserts. Some examples of items range from fried
chicken, mash potatoes, cream spinach, to liver and onions, pizza, hot dogs,
steak, prime rib, various casseroles (hot-dish) to salads, side salads pie,
cake and any single proportioned deserts. They can be picked up at the specific
unit, or delivered.

In
summary, a Grocerant is a result of the blurring of the line between
restaurants and grocery stores aimed at the time-starved consumer with Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared meals or meal components that can be bundled into
a perfect family meal that is portable.

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Success does
leave clues and chain restaurants once again can watch how Starbucks drove year over year sales with
digital innovation according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru®
at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice
Solutions®.

The
momentum from digital innovation is credited for driving a 4% jump in U.S.
same-store sales for its most recent quarter, but the coffee giant is still
having trouble cracking the code to unlock a traffic boost much like the rest
of the chain restaurant sector.

Starbucks
added 1 million active users to its “app-based members-only program in Q1
2019—a year-over-year increase of 14% and the company’s largest jump since 2015—and
now has 16.3 million customers enrolled in the rewards program”.Starbucks
loyal users typically outspend other customers, according to Starbucks which is
the case for most retailers.

Expanding
it digital focus with delivery, Starbucks revealed plans to expand deliveryto six new cities in coming weeks, said it is
working to upgrade its software so customers can place delivery orders directly
through the Starbucks app and not just via Uber Eats.

Starbucks
revenue increased 9% to $6.63 billion for the quarter. Transactions, however,
remained flat, and the comps boost was due in large part to a 3% lift in
average check size.

Kevin
Johnson Starbucks CEO stated “We are particularly pleased with the sequential
improvement in quarterly comparable store transactions in the U.S., underpinned
by our digital initiatives and improved execution of our in-store experience,”
Remember, Kevin Johnson came from Microsoft so integrating technology is something
he understands.

The
company reported growth in iced beverage sales and announced plans to expand
its nitro coffee line from 40% of U.S. stores this quarter to 100% of units by
the end of the fiscal year. “This platform is differentiated, provides theater
and drives incrementality,” Johnson said.

Technology
has invaded consumer life in the way of the smart phone and integrating
pro-active marketing directly into the palm of your customers hand is an intrical
part of brand marketing today.

Invite Foodservice
Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or
for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant
Guru®.Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in
the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or 253-759-7869

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

So, it’s been 13
years since Burger King has had a commercial at the Super Bowl. Does that mean they are simply continuing to follow
the industry leaders or do you think they continue to simply paly follow
the leader as Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA
based Foodservice Solutions®.

The new Mystery Box Super Bowl Deal touted as Burger King partners with DoorDash looks to most industry insider
that have contacted the team at Foodservice Solutions® as simply more of the
same, follow the leader.Partnerships
matter but within branded food marketing originality goes a long way to drive
incremental customer trial and adoption according to Johnson.

Johnson continued the undercurrents driving incremental brand adoption
putting a new electricityin brand relevance for many younger
consumers in require consumer have a branded invitation for interaction and participation
and this promotion appears to have that according to Johnson.

Today,
new partnerships can drive sales in foodservice today as your brand is
searching for the new electricity to
help drive the brand forward. So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part
driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of
distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

All
retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial
intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that
is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.
In the teaser
film features the Burger King King as he prepares a set with direction
from a director behind the camera. It ends with the King adjusting the mic,
ready to announce what is yet to come during the Super Bowl.

To get
your own Mystery Box head to DoorDash.com or
download the DoorDash app, enter promo code MYSTERYBOX on all orders
of $10 or more from participating Burger King restaurants*. Then wait
for your Mystery Box to arrive at the comfort of your home with instructions to
follow—keep the content of the Mystery Box till game day. And DoorDash will
also offer $0 Delivery Fees** when you order Burger King today
through the day after the Big Game. I guess on February 3, 2019 we will find
out if Burger King is breaking out or simply continuing to play follow the
leader.

Monday, January 28, 2019

Success does
leave clues and while Speedway
has been known for it service, fresh, fast, flavorful, grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat
and Heat-N-Eat food the roughly 3,000 unit chain continues to evolve adapting
to the evolving food focused consumer according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at
Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Consumers
are dynamic not static as smart phones out number land lines more and more consumers
have migrated to from cash to digital payment options. So, customers at Speedway convenience stores
can now use Apple Pay at checkout elevating service once again.

Johnson stated that Speedway’s updated digital payments are outstanding as
a hand held Food Marketing tool.It is
one key tools that are the undercurrents driving incremental brand adoption
putting a new electricityin brand relevance for many younger
consumers specifically Millennial's.

Today,
new partnerships can drive sales in foodservice today as your brand is
searching for the new electricity to
help drive the brand forward. So, just what is your brands new electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part
driven with innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of
distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

All
retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial
intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that
is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.

Digital
payment is big and getting bigger as Apple Pay is rolling out now in Target
stores and more than 7,000 Taco Bell and 2,200 Jack in the Box locations in the
next few months.Customers can also use
Apple Pay today at more than 245 Hy-Vee stores in the Midwest.

With the
addition of these national retailers, 74 of the top 100 merchants in the U.S.
and 65 percent of all retail locations across the country will support Apple
Pay, according to the company.Is your
company keeping pace with consumers?

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in
outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify
additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and
brand and menu integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions®
of Tacoma WA is the global leader in
the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,
Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Sunday, January 27, 2019

One fundamental of consumer
food marketing is follow the customer.
When the consumer evolves all retailers including grocery stores,
convenience stores, restaurants, clothing retailers and furniture retailers
need to do the same according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA
based Foodservice
Solutions®.

General managers at Whole Foods Market
stores have called thier stores ‘grocerants’
for over ten years according to Johnson.Whole Foods has been keenly aware of the undercurrents driving the
consumers within the grocerant sector and has successfully repositioned to
garner incremental customer transactions within the grocerant niche according
to Johnson.

Whole Foods has consistently
received high marks on Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant ScoreCards for food quality, price,
service and while elevating internal food quality standards while
simultaneously elevating communication to consumers about their fresh prepared
Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat ‘better-for-you’ offering.

Grocerants generated 2.7 billion
visits and $12 billion in sales in 2017 by promoting restaurant-quality freshly
prepared foods. Building momentum grocerant visits have increased close to 30% over
the past 10 years and show no sign of slowing down according to Johnson.

Driven by Millennial customers
today more than 40% of Americans buy freshly prepared foods from grocery
stores. Besides being fast, fresh food, it can be cheaper than traditional takeout. According
to NPD Group study grocerant meal costs $4.22 on average, compared to $7.96 at
a fast-casual restaurant, a 53% difference.

Consumers like to save while
eating restaurant quality food and most consumers now believe that Takeout
meals or meal components comprised of fresh food from c-store the ilk of Sheetz, Wawa, and Rutter’s is
restaurant quality according to recent Grocerant ScoreCards according to
Johnson.

Fast-food restaurants with
drive-thru’s have had the Ready-2-Eat sector to themselves for years.However, after years of capitulating market
share sales away from grocery stores and c-stores the tide has turned.Consumers are driven by an increase in menu
choice, food quality, and price to sample, savor, and save on What’s for
Dinner.

Invite Foodservice
Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or
for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant
Guru®.Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in
the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or 253-759-7869

Saturday, January 26, 2019

Since 1991 Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant
Guru®, Steven Johnson’s focus has been on Hand Held Food and technology to improve
food quality, customer service, and convenience of ‘better-for-you’ fresh food
fast.Regular readers of this blog know
that Johnson was the one who coined the term GROCERANT back in the day after he
identified quantified, and qualified the emerging retail space.

However, let’s look
at what we can learn from some others. Here we go “according to evidence in one
NPD group report and one research note from Oppenheimer, both recently released,
Americans (and Millennials in particular) want someone else to cook for them,
but they don't want to stop going to the grocery store, either. The compromise
between the two? Purchasing prepared food from the supermarket.

NPD's food-service market
research found that in-store dining and take-out prepared foods from grocers
has grown 30% over the past eight years, accounting for $10 billion of consumer
spending in 2015. By NPD's count, more than 40% of the U.S. population
purchases prepared food from grocery stores -- and this number could grow as
Millennials increasingly warm to the crazy idea of getting their food not from
Seamless but from the supermarket.

“Millennials’
interest in the benefits and experience supermarket food-service offers will
continue to be strong over the next several years,” David Portalatin, NPD's
vice president of industry analysis said in a statement accompanying the
research. “This forecast bodes well for food manufacturers and retailers who
have their fingers on the pulse of what drives this generational group. Give
the Millennials what they want — fresh, healthier fare and a decent price — and
they will come.”

According to NPD
spokesperson Kim McLynn, "grocerants" can range from yuppy-chic (see
New York City's Eataly) to conventional-seeming grocers, like H-E-B Grocery in
San Antonio, Texas, Buehler's
in Wooster, Ohio, Hy-Vee
in Bloomington, Illinois and Whole Foods in Austin, Texas.

While many grocery
chains seem to be catching on to this trend, it's Whole Foods that has made
some of the largest strides in capturing dining dollars for its prepared food
offerings. "We were impressed by the overall prepared foods offering,
which could represent a point of differentiation versus other specialty
concepts such as Trader Joe’s," he wrote. "The main components of the
prepared foods offering included two cold salad bars and two hot bars that
included items such as pizza, soup, chicken wings and samosas. There were also
other “prepared food venues” including a case filled with pre-made sushi,
sandwiches, salads, etc. and an area where customers can order via iPad select
items such as hot dogs, pizza, and rice/veggie bowls."

Beyond simply
offering prepared food, Parikh and his team said they saw "an
extensive assortment of value-priced prepared foods," too, including
Seared Albacore Sashimi for $10.00; a Chinese-style salad with
chicken for $4.50; peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for $3.50 each; a
BBQ-style chopped salad for $4.00; and a chicken Caesar salad bowl for $10.00.

Ultimately, the
Oppenheimer team estimates that Whole Foods after integrating all of Whole
Foods 365 units could capture 20% to 30% of its market share from traditional
restaurants:

"Based on our
study of the concept and competitive backdrop, we believe the 365 format can
help to attract a new customer and broaden the market share potential for the
chain," Parikh concluded. "We view the new concept as very on-trend,
catering to some of the hottest trends out there currently including fresh,
natural/organic, and growth in away-from-home spending."

Whole Foods isn't the
only grocer beefing up it’s pre-made meals. Now Convenience store sector
players the ilk of Sheetz, Wawa, Green Zebra Grocery and others are filling the
void left by many legacy chain restaurants and grocery chains unwilling to
adapt to today’s dynamic consumers.

Invite Foodservice
Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or
for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant
Guru®.Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in
the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or 253-759-7869

Friday, January 25, 2019

Success does
leave clues within the foodservice sector and chain restaurants focusing on
family have found that it can edify the brand loyalty while building top line
sales and bottom line profits according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru®
at Tacoma, WA based www.FoodserviceSolutions.us

At Cicis Tuesdays
are about to be everyone’s favorite night of the week at the pizza buffet
as Cicis brings Nickelodeon’s Rise
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to create Rise of the Turtles Tuesdays,
exclusively at Cicis in a partnership that drive family into the heart of brand
messaging at Cicis.

New
partnerships can drive sales at chain restaurants today.Many Restaurant brands are searching for the new electricity to help drive the brand
forward. So,
just what is your brands new
electricity? According to Johnson, “Brand relevance is in part driven with
innovation in new food products in combination with new avenues of distribution
all of which are the platform for the new electricity.”

All
retailers to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial
intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that
is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.

Each
Tuesday night, beginning January 22, kids can look like one of the Turtles,
play like a Turtle and even eat like a Turtle, with fun turtle-bite sized
alfredo and cheese pizzas and salads, all for just 99 cents with the purchase
of one adult buffet and large drink.

Cicis
locations nationwide will give away free collectable Rise of the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles masks featuring each of the four Turtles to kids
every Tuesday 4 p.m. to close through March 12, while supplies last.

To
further enhance the restaurant experience with more Ninja Turtle family fun,
Cicis will release an exclusive, all-new digital game, Pizza Power. Guests who
come into Cicis on Tuesdays can get a code to access the game, to play like a
Turtle and unlock a new villain each week for an even greater challenge. Fans
playing the game can pick their favorite hero and defeat villains to help
recover the stolen pizza toppings.

“Through
the Rise of the Turtles Tuesdays at Cicis program we are bringing family fun
and excitement to turn an ordinary day into the best night of the week, all at
a great value,” says Cicis CMO Billie Jo Waara. “Our unlimited buffet of pizza,
pasta, salad and dessert offers a balanced meal with something for everyone.” For
locations and more details on Rise of the Turtles Tuesdays at Cicis, go
to www.cicis.com.

Are you looking for a
new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your
food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in
learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or visit:www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Consumers
vote with there feet and wallet according to Tacoma, WA based Grocerant Guru® Steven
Johnson at Foodservice Solutions®. Year over year
customer counts continue to plague many chain restaurants all the while
foodservice within the C-store sector is projected to clime once again above 6%
this year.

A new
study by Alix Partners
found that Consumers rate their experience in purchasing meals and beverages at
convenience stores much better than fast-food or fast-casual restaurants in
terms of speed of service and overall convenience. The majority also say that
ready-to-go/serve-yourself foods, beverages and snacks are their preferred type
of foodservice when they shop at a convenience store.

So, let’s
see just what key findings were:

1.Lower percentages of consumers
rated c-stores ahead of fast-food and fast-casual restaurants in regards to
healthy food/beverage choices and menu options. However, they did give c-stores
the nod for better prices than fast-casual establishments.

2.Foodservice is the primary
c-store purchase category (picked as tops by 28 percent of participants), but
40 percent of these shoppers view it primarily for snacking.

3.57 percent say ready-to-eat is
the type of foodservice they most want from c-stores, with made-to-order far
behind at only 29 percent.

4.Half of respondents (50 percent)
said “better-for-you” options are important when choosing a c-store, up from
46.5 percent in last year’s survey.

5.A loyalty program is a very
important c-store influencer (3.6 on a scale of 1 to 5), scoring higher than a
drive-thru (rated 2.7).

6.Food quality, price, speed and
menu variety are the most important factors when it comes to delivery from a
c-store. Forty-four percent of consumers prefer to order directly from the
store rather than a third-party service (12 percent).

7.For traditional c-store products,
36 percent of millennials and 20 percent of Gen X say they will shop more at
Amazon instead in the year ahead.

8.89 percent of electric car owners
say having charging stations is important for c-stores, with half (51 percent)
saying it is “extremely important.”

Foodservice Solutions® specializes in
outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify
additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and
brand and menu integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions®
of Tacoma WA is the global leader in
the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson,
Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant

Wednesday, January 23, 2019

What’s for
Dinner? You know that question your kids ask you to many times a day and you
ask yourself more times than you ever dreamed possible. Well, at the intersection of daily task and
the family dinner is a set of tasks including shopping, cooking and doing
dishes that most consumers believe consumes way too much time according to Steven
Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA
based Foodservice Solutions®.

Saving time
continues to be the number one key driver of retail foodservice customer
migration from one platform to another according to Johnson.Second, is the lack of cooking skill-set to
prepared the multi-ethnic full-flavored foods consumers have been introduced to
and enjoy.

While technology
innovations, media innovations, and consumer behavior continue to evolve our
eating habits specifically where we eat and when we eat have continued to evolve
and 73.6%
of consumers now report they prefer eating dinner at home in front
of the TV.

Watching live
sporting events, playing games, even watching the news has gain momentum as a
driver in what consumers want to watch while eating dinner.While employee commuting times continue to
grow in length, so do options for children’s activities after school shrinking
the time available for preparing dinner.

The undercurrent
commonality within the retail food sector migration from all age groups is
discovery.The pure joy of finding a
Ready-2-Eat or Heat-N-Eat meal or meal component in a new avenue of
distribution the ilk of Ikea, Costco, Macy’s or from a full-service chain
restaurant.

There is a
solution to the age or question that is asked all to often ‘What’s for Dinner’.That solutions is fresh prepared Ready-2-Eat
or Heat-N-Eat meals or meal components that can be bundled into a Mix &
Match prefect family meal.

Invite Foodservice
Solutions® to complete a Grocerant Program Assessment, Grocerant ScoreCard, or
for product positioning or placement assistance, or call our Grocerant
Guru®.Since 1991 www.FoodserviceSolutions.usof Tacoma, WA has been the global leader in
the Grocerant niche. Contact: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or 253-759-7869

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Interactive and
participatory eSports just might be the bridge to revive the restaurant sectors
disappointing, dismal, declining year over year customer counts according to
Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®.

Not
only do all ages participate in eSports but millennials can’t seem to get
enough, when they are not playing, they are watching. The new video game
phenomenon of esports has made another inroad into the restaurant business with
the installation of terminals for simultaneous live play inside the GameWorks
fun-and-food chain.

Why
you might want to contact someone about eSports its growing at 17% a year. New
eSport Lounges enable 20 to 40 guests to play the same video game
simultaneously, either casually or in tournaments offering prizes to the
winners. GameWorks said it plans to hold
tournaments at least once a month. Players can have food and beverages brought
to their seats from The Works Kitchen, the restaurant component of GameWorks
branches.

eSports
is evolving and is already constituted a $138 billion business by the end of
2018, according to research and consulting firm IDG Consulting. Restaurants potential
of landing players and onlookers has prompted other restaurant operators to
embrace the emerging “sport” as a way of drawing young consumers’ attention.

Chains
the ilk of Buffalo Wild Wings, for instance, recently opened a new prototype that features a section called
the MVP Room, which is wired to host esports contests and
broadcast the competitions onto TVs throughout the restaurant. Included in the
room is a six-tap self-service beer dispensing system.

Even,
Jersey Mike’s Subs sponsored the North American League of Legends
Championship Series esports tournament this past
summer. “We’re looking at the customer of tomorrow,” CMO Rich Hope told Restaurant
Business when the 1,600-unit chain announced its backing of the
esports league. “We’re looking at customers who are 13 instead of 27. They’re
hard to reach with traditional media. This is an opportunity to reach them in
an environment they’re in.”

Monday, January 21, 2019

Back
in the day there was a local market on every corner, they were not convenience
stores they were small mom and pop grocery stores that were convenient,
reliable, and close.Then came grocery
stores and a regional food markets in almost every defined neighborhood, they
sold more products, sold them for less, and drove the mom and pop stores out of
business.

Within
the restaurant sector during the same time span the same thing happened. Local
mom and pop restaurant were replaced by regional brands, then national franchises
felling fresh food faster and for less garnering business from both the grocery
sector and legacy independent restaurant sector.

Enter
the grocerant sector filled with Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food
and consumers time starved began migration to new avenues of distribution for
dinner looking for time saving, solution for dinner.

It’s
at the intersection of the consumer and food retail that we find San
Francisco-based startup Robomart
Inc. that is going to utilize autonomous electric vehicles to delivery
food, meals, and meal components in your local neighborhood, your driveway, or
at your front door.

While
wholesale food prices in the U.S. were down close to 3.0% in 2018; U.S.
restaurant prices were up 2.6% 2018 driving a wedge between the consumers
pocketbook and the dinner table.Robomart has the unique ability to bridge that gap by delivering to the
home, the mix & match food offerings including grocery staples and
ready-2-eat or heat-n-eat meals saving consumers both time and money while
solving the endless question What’s for dinner.

Ahold
Delhaize US grocery store chain is scheduled to launch this spring in greater
Boston, autonomous electric vehicles from San
Francisco-based startup Robomart Inc. Billed as a “self-driving grocery store,”
the vehicles will carry an assortment of produce, meal kits and convenience
items directly to customers, where they can choose what they want. So, how is
it going to work?

Well,
when the vehicle arrives, customers go outside, unlock the vehicle’s doors and
then pick the fruit, vegetables and other products they want to buy off the
shelves inside. After taking their items, they just close the doors and send
the vehicle on its way. The vehicles’ RFID and computer vision ”grab-and-go”
technology automatically records the products customers selected and charges
them. Receipts are e-mailed in seconds.

The ‘driverless’
vehicles are piloted remotely from a Robomart facility. Stop & Shop said
the tele-operated vehicles will be restocked with fresh items throughout their
journey to ensure the best selection for customers. Perishables are kept fresh
via purpose-built refrigeration and temperature control in the vehicle.

This
is nothing new for consumers as even Ali Ahmed, founder and CEO of Robomart stated
“For decades, consumers had the convenience of their local green grocer and
milkman coming door to door, and we believe that by leveraging driverless
technology we can recreate that level of convenience and accessibility,”

The
era of walking through a grocery store for 30 minutes looking for four items is
about to slowly fadeaway according to Johnson. Restaurants, convenience store
will all begin adopting these new avenues of fresh food distribution to delivery
and drive branded food sales.More
important consumers will not object to this technology and will adopt it much
like they adopted mobile phones; with curiosity, then slowly, and the doors
will simply fly wide open. The food world is evolving are you?

Are you looking for a
new partnership to drive sales? Are you ready for some fresh ideations? Do your
food marketing ideations look more like yesterday than tomorrow? Interested in
learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient
meal participation, differentiation and individualization? Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us
or visit:www.FoodserviceSolutions.us
for more information.